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Agricultural school in West Beqaa to train agricultural technicians and create employment

24-11-2016

In cooperation with the Jeb Janin municipality and the Federation of Buhaira Municipalities, the caretaker agriculture minister Akram Shehayeb inaugurated an agricultural school in West Beqaa in the presence of health minister, Wael Abu Fa3ur, and concerned figures. Shehayeb disclosed on the occasion that the opening of the school has been suspended by a static decree, yet its launch will generate cohorts of agricultural, livestock and land management technicians and specialists. He made clear that this move will contribute to the enhancement, in size and quality, of production and to the creation of jobs in the area and other areas hosting similar schools. Abu Fa3ur on the other hand, underlined the importance of the school, in terms of graduation of cadres that boast the necessary know-how and expertise. The school, he said, also presents prospects for employment within the school’s faculty and staff, as well as, improves the quality of agriculture in the area. For his part, the President of the Federation of Buhaira Municipalities, Yahya Daher, stressed that the new school is expected to raise awareness amongst farmers in the agricultural sciences and enhance their productivity, after that the sector has been neglected by the government for many years. (Al Diyar, Al Mustaqbal, November 22, 2016)

 

 

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Youth, refugee entrepreneurship training

24-11-2016

Makhzoomi Foundation signed on Monday a cooperation agreement with Positive Planet Foundation aimed at training Lebanese youth and Syrian refugees on various fields to enhance their professional and educational skills and develop sustainable small enterprises, as well as introduce them to lending institutions. The project includes training of some 190 young men and women aged between 18- 25 years over a period of 18 months. According to the agreement, Makhzoomi Foundation will provide skills training for the youth, following courses for training of trainers by the international foundation. Professional skills covered by the project are, hairdressing for men and women and cooking, as explained by Malak Hoot from Makhzoomi to L’Orient Le Jour newspaper. Hoot said that out of 71 selected participants 70% were women and 50% Syrian refugees. Positive Planet has secured USD 107,413 of the overall cost of the program (estimated at USD 287,413) through a collective fundraising campaign. The remaining USD 180 thousand were secured from private sector donors, namely, Pepsico, Barkleys and Tamer Group. (L’Orient Le Jour, November 24, 2016)

 

 

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Businessmen and industrialists honors industry minister during a “men-only” dinner

23-11-2016

The President of the Mediterranean Businessmen Union, Jacques Sarraf, held a dinner banquet at his Rabyeh residence in honor and recognition of the accomplishments of the caretaker minister of industry, Dr. Hussein Haj Hassan. Surprisingly, and according to Al Diyar newspaper, the event was exclusively for men as the invitations were sent to industrialists and businessmen without their spouses. On the occasion, Haj Hassan stressed the need to prioritize the economy sector with the commencement of a new presidency era and the formation of a new cabinet, calling on the various industrial and economic bodies, as well as the businessmen community, to be part of an effective and constructive pressure group influencing rigorous economic decisions. “We have repeatedly demanded the need to develop a comprehensive economic strategy, having well-defined objectives and clear-cut timeline,” Sarraf maintained. He also called for the formation of a ministerial team to set and follow up the plan led by the prime minister and the membership of the ministers of foreign affairs, finance, economy and trade, industry, agriculture, tourism and transportation, as well as representatives of main economic bodies. (Al Diyar November 22, 2016)
 

 

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First US-funded olives processing factory in Jezzine

23-11-2016

The USAID funded Building Alliances for Local Advancement, Development and Investment, BALADI, program inaugurated on Friday the first of its kind center for the processing of olives in the Jezzine town of Roum, in partnership with the Federation of Jezzine Municipalities. The project is expected to increase the sales of olives  for some 270 farmers/dealers in some 28 towns in the Federation, as well as create jobs for about 10 persons within the Center’s main functions. During the opening ceremony, Michel Moawad, CEO of the implementing party, Rene Moawad Foundation, pointed out that the factory will not only benefit the community of Roum but will also serve the people of  the Jezzine district. He pointed out that the initiative is important because it stems from the local resources and potentials at hand to secure the fundamentals of steadfastness for the area in a sustainable pattern. Mouwad also underlined the uniqueness of the undertaking as it combines together the storage, sorting, packing, processing and packaging areas. It will transform the olive cultivation from a traditional agriculture to form a basis for a local agricultural industry, Moawad maintained. This, he added, can utilize the flourishing hospitality sector and proliferation of restaurants across Lebanon, and meet the growing demand on all kinds of green, black, solid, crushed and pickled olives, particularly by the Italian eateries. For his part, the US Embassy’s Charge D’Affaires, Danny Hall, noted that the USAID has contributed through BALADI a sum of USD 250 thousand to help the municipality of Roum in building and equipping the factory. (Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, An Nahar, November 21, 2016)
 

 

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Launch of operations at Special Economic Zone in Tripoli

23-11-2016

The chair of the General Authority of the Board of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Tripoli, former minister, Raya Hassan, announced yesterday the opening of the Zone’s administrative offices and the official launch of its work. On the occasion, Hassan underscored the projected role of SEZ in boosting investment activity in the country starting from its northern capital, Tripoli. She disclosed that work is being initiated simultaneously along financial, administrative and legislative axes, and that consultations are underway with international financing institutions known for their successful achievements in the field. Pointing out that the starting period will take no longer than the first quarter of 2017, Hassan appealed for the support of political and executive circles in attracting the required investments and recruitment of the city’s workforce. She underlined the importance of ensuring a balanced development that will positively impact the cycle of progress, growth and advancement in the North. (Al Diyar, Al Mustaqbal, November 22, 2016)
 
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Awareness-raising for educators of nurseries in Tripoli

23-11-2016

The Syndicate of Nurseries Owners in Lebanon organized on Saturday a conference in Tripoli entitled, ‘early detection of learning difficulties in children’. The event comes as part of Safadi Cultural Center’s joint awareness activities with daycares and its efforts to develop the sector involved with children in the first fundamental years of their lives. The conference which targets nurseries community in Lebanon, particularly in the North, aims at spreading ground rules for daycare through the assistance of early childhood specialists and the latest scientific techniques in the field. On the occasion, Violet Safadi, sponsor of the conference, stressed the contributing and pivotal role of daycares in establishing and shaping the personality of the children during their early formative years, urging nurseries to coordinate closely with the Syndicate to this effect. Safadi also hailed the role of the Syndicate which has contributed in reducing the level of accidents in daycares, underlying the importance of teamwork in pressuring authorities concerned to streamline educational guiding principles which help create a safe environment for children, and thus preparing the generation to “know how to bend without breaking.” (Al Diyar, November 22, 2016)
 

 

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Another MWDW “suicide” in Iqlim al-Kharrub

23-11-2016

Suicide incidents among migrant women domestic workers (MWDW) continue to recur, without raising any eyebrow by concerned people in Lebanon. In this respect, The Daily Star newspaper published in its issue of 19 November, that a domestic worker hung herself in Iqlim al-Kharrub town of Al-Burjain Friday in an apparent suicide. The Ethiopian worker, born in 1992, was found dead at the house of her employer, and security forces arrived at the scene and opened an investigation, while a coroner examined the body and declared the death a suicide. (Daily Star 19 November 2016)
 
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A legal formula is needed to register social enterprises in Lebanon

21-11-2016

In cooperation with a number of partners and with financial support from UNESCO, digital opportunity trust, DOT Lebanon, launched last Friday the so-called ‘social entrepreneurship in Lebanon Map’. The project seeks to create tools to serve social aims which abide by two clear conditions, firstly: the social aim should be the primary mission of the subject company, and secondly, that the company has a business model that allows it to reach financial autonomy, as said Aline Mayard on Wamda (http://bit.ly/2g8RefG). The interactive map presents information on the environmental system of this field of business in terms of the operating companies, (65 companies in total), their regional distribution and what they do, as well as the institutions that provide theoretical and technical support, up to financing (185 supporting institutions). Social enterprises are geographically distributed as such: 68% in the capital, Beirut, 26% in Mount Lebanon and 2% in the Beqaa, North and the South. According to DOT, nearly 16 of these companies are registered as associations, 10 companies not registered, 2 registered as corporations, and one as a limited liability company. As for the supporting institutions, their social services are distributed across many sectors, topped by environment and energy sectors, followed by education, health, rural development, waste management, food security and unemployment. On this, regional director for DOT Middle East, Marianne Bitar Karam, explained that social entrepreneurship in Lebanon has emerged widely, with ‘Souk el Tayyib’ and Arc en Ciel coming in the lead, noting that the latter while legally registered as an association, is not registered as a social commercial business. To note, the official website for the entrepreneurship map will be launched in a week. In its coverage of subject, Al Akbar daily pointed out to the main dilemma facing social entrepreneurship model supporters which is resolving the title, ‘a company or association’. Karam explained to Al Akhbar that social companies generate revenues that could be distributed among stakeholders or could be invested in research and development aims. But, while associations do not have the right to generate revenues, the prime work of the company is provision of the social service, Karam explained. She called for a compromise to this legal quandary through the creation of a legal formula that gives social enterprises access for funding. The formula that social entrepreneurship model backers are promoting is one will allow social commercial businesses to access two key sources of funding: loans (which associations cannot access) and aids provided by donors (which companies cannot benefit from). (Al-Akhbar and L’Orient le Jour 19 November 2016)
 

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Civic Network in Lebanon to Change the Image of Women in Media

21-11-2016

In partnership with ActionAid Regional Initiative, Fe-Male Association launched on Friday the ‘National Network to Change the Image of Women in Media an Advertising in Lebanon’ through a written act based on findings of a study prepared by the project with contribution of Dr. Nahawand Qadiri, under the title, ‘Towards a more balanced image of women in the Lebanese Media’. The said act was signed by a number of civil society groups, notably, Kafa Enough Violence and Exploitation, ABAAD resource center for gender, the National Media Council, Sawt el Shaab radio station and many other involved institutions and associations. The act highlights a list of provisos, stressing the following needs: create media material that does not contribute to stereotyping woman; promote women’s presence in the media and give them space to express their views on various issues; enhance the language of the media by showing more respect for women’s privacy in coverages related to gender based violence. In its address to advertising agencies, the act advised less commodification of women’s bodies and the creation of innovative publicity campaigns in their promotion of consumer goods, urging the advertising community to cooperate with civil society to produce gender sensitive advertisement. The launching event also saw the presentation of a report for 2016 compiled by Fe-Male monitoring the image of women in the media and ads. The report included a critical review of drama shows in Lebanon and the Arab World from a gender perspective, in addition to a sample of publicities and media programs published during the period from August 2015 to August 2016, clearly reflecting an objectification and stereotyping of women. To close, winners of the best gender sensitive Ad competition for university students organized jointly by Fe-Male and ABAAD were announced. Participants, Zeina Qarut and Mariam Hawari, who came in the first place were honored for their joint ad motivating women to realize their dreams. Malakeh Khanat, the first runner up, tackled in her creative ad the different prejudices against women. (As Safir, November 19, 2016)
 

 

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“Nationality is a Right for Me and My Family” commemorates Independence Day!

21-11-2016

On the occasion of the Independence Day, “My Nationality is a Right for Me and My Family Campaign” organized a symbolic sit-in in front of the French Embassy in Beirut demanding the enactment of a nationality bill which is fair and equal for both women and men. Participants, including women concerned and their families, actors and actresses, as well as civil society and feminist activist, hoisted banners that read, ‘we want a nationality law made in Lebanon’, or ‘our independence will only be complete with independent legislations’, or ‘an expired law’, and others. During the protest, Campaign coordinator, Karima Shebbo, stated that the national law currently in effect has been set by in 1925 (during the French Mandate) by French Commissioner General Serai, which means that ‘our independence is still incomplete and shall only be completed with the updating of laws dating from the French Mandate.” Shebbo strongly called for a just and fair act which is based on gender equality and guarantees the rights of Lebanese women to grant their nationality to their family members. In her address to the legislative and executive authorities and to the President of the Republic, Shebbo called for the creation of laws consistent with the Seventh Paragraph of the Constitution stipulating that ‘all the Lebanese are equal under the law…” For her part, lawyer Iqbal Dughan, President of the Lebanese Council for Women (LCW) made clear that the move is not against the French Embassy, particularly that France has amended and changed the French nationality law and gave women their right to this effect. The protest, Dughan maintained, is against the patriarchal mindset dominating the Lebanese State which prevents Lebanese women from granting their nationality to their children. On the other hand, and on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the International Group for Humanitarian Assistance, Basmeh, honored on Friday woman fighter and feminist activist, Hind Atwi, on the launch of her booklet ‘My Nationality’ (jinsiyati) written by children, in cooperation with AUB’s Center for Civic Engagement and Community Center. Atwi wrote her story inspired from her struggles and real life experiences regarding deprivation of the constitutional rights of Lebanese women  in this respect, citing stories by children of women sharing these predicaments. Basmeh director pointed out during the honoring ceremony that the children are mostly and directly affected from this situation as this will negatively impact the various aspects of their lives, including education, civil rights and hospitalization. (As Safir, An Nahar, Al Hayat, L’Orient Le Jour, November 19 and 21, 2016)

 

 

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